Denny Hecker jailed again for fumbling financials [UPDATE]

Bankrupt auto dealer Denny Hecker has been booked into the Sherburne County jail, and treated to a new mug shot.

That's not what he expected out of a routine federal court hearing yesterday, and today he got more bad news: He may stay behind bars until his sentencing on fraud and conspiracy charges early next year.

All he wanted on Monday was permission from Judge Michael Davis to have attorney Bill Mauzy take over his case from two public defenders.

But that's not what Davis had in mind. He wanted to know how the theoretically broke and unemployed Hecker could afford Mauzy, and how he came into, and spent, $200,000 cash since June.

Davis also took a dim view of Hecker sending his kids to the pricey, private Breck School while taxpayers paid for his criminal defense.

Hecker's mystery legal benefactors came forward. Former employer Ralph Thomas said he and North Dakota potato king Ron Offutt were just trying to help out a friend by paying Mauzy's retainer.

And Hecker said it never occurred to him to repay the public defenders office.

But Davis clearly thought Hecker was still holding out, or screwing around with, the rest of his financials. Hecker's a guy, after all, who is $767 million in debt, who ran an auto dealership empire into the ground, and who was convicted of trying to defraud lenders out of millions of dollars. He's been dodging questions about his financial status for months. So after some close questioning, Davis got testy. While Hecker's shocked public defenders and girlfriend Christi Rowan looked on, he ordered U.S. Marshals to take Hecker away.